A Recap of This Week’s Top News – August 11, 2023

Changes to policy, scientific discovery, and expert recommendations and opinions all have the power to rapidly influence the landscape of a sector. Whether you’re a leader at a non-profit, a member of a university’s marketing department, or a stakeholder for a public health agency, being informed about the latest industry happenings can be the difference between exceeding and falling short of organizational goals. At Hager Sharp, our experts vigorously scan media coverage to identify areas of opportunity. And now, with the introduction of the Sharp Round-Up, you too can review what we consider to be some of the top news of the week.

Below you will find a compilation of news spanning the health and education, labor, and economy sectors. This list includes mainstream, DC-focused, and trade publication coverage from Saturday, August 5, to Friday, August 11. Let these clips serve as a resource when developing thoughtful strategies and use them to further foster organizational innovation and adaptability.

Here’s what you need to know.

Education News:

• Two new studies further prove that schools need to make a “sustained, coordinated effort” to address gaps in learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of traditional summer school, educators should focus on providing support across various paces and learning styles in both tutoring and summer programs to help catch students up.
• According to a recent article in Chalkbeat, free school meal programs have widespread benefits for students. Offering students free meals helps meet students’ basic needs and could even help them have better attendance and achieve better grades or test scores.
• A new paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Asian American students were 28 percent less likely to be accepted into a highly selective university than white students with comparable grades, standardized test scores, and extracurriculars.

Health News:

• The FDA recently approved a pill to treat postpartum depression―a condition that affects many people across the country. While the medication isn’t a “catch-all” for the effects of postpartum depression, the approval is a step in the right direction for addressing some of the aftereffects of childbirth.
• A recent study in Pediatrics revealed that at least 17 percent of young children are not fully up-to-date on routine vaccines for measles, whooping cough (pertussis), polio, and more. The 17 percent statistic reflects a population of children that started the series but didn’t finish it―leaving children without complete protection against routine preventable diseases.
• As heat waves continue to plague the country, the White House announced a new virtual dashboard that maps emergency medical responses to heat-related emergencies. Officials hope that the dashboard will help increase transparency and accountability for those most affected by heat emergencies, said an article by The Hill.
• A new study shows that just 4,000 steps a day can help lower the risk of death from any cause. While health experts say people should still aim to fit in as many steps as possible, the study challenges a previous notion claiming that people should get 10,000 steps per day.
• Recent research predicts that half of the world’s population may develop some type of mental disorder by 75. The research points to a steady increase in mental health problems over time, an issue that has only accelerated due to the pandemic.